Okay. I know I've taken forever to update. I'm sorry. I'm the worst procrastinator ever. I don't deserve lovely readers like you. Please forgive me. I'll even bribe you with this new chapter!

Spin that Bottle

Seeing Matt became exponentially more difficult with Sora on the scene. Their tryst was even more complicated than it should have been, as Matt's stardom confined him almost exclusively to their home. They couldn't go out without attracting the paparazzi's attention. But Mimi wasn't going to shy away from the challenge. She'd always been stubborn when it came to getting what she wanted. So she and Matt persisted in seeing each other. When Sora was conducting her tennis school, or went shopping, or to lunch with one of her clients, Mimi took her chances while she had them.

Matt would call. Two rings only - that was their signal. Then they usually had about an hour and a half of time together. There had been close calls, of course. Once, Sora's lunch date had been cancelled and she'd run in, clearly upset, only seconds after Mimi had run out of the room. Sora had bemoaned the way people always let you down when you need them most, while Mimi hid naked in the next room, heart hammering.

But Mimi didn't actually have to deal with Sora in person until weeks after her return. It was TK and Kari's engagement party. Despite being engaged for months, they still hadn't celebrated properly. So Mimi, not sure if she'd be able to fly over to Japan for their actual wedding, was holding a party in their honour. All Digi-Destineds invited.

It was a rather stressful day. Davis looked world-weary and depressed, his usually outgoing demeanour oddly muted. Joe was just back from his cruise, sunburnt to crimson, recounting for anyone who stood still long enough the story of how he asked Amelia to marry him. It was a cute tale, but rather tragic - he got seasick halfway through propositioning her. Izzy and Tai were on the phone half the time due to a crisis at work. TK and Kari spent every available moment locked at the lips. Mimi knew she shouldn't care, but honestly, it made her jealous.

But worst of all, Matt was sitting with Sora. With his hand on her knee. On Mimi's own couch. It should have been the ultimate betrayal. But it couldn't be. It gave Mimi the saddest sinking feeling in her chest. If only things could have been different. If only… she lived her life in 'if only'. Always wishing for something better. And it was all Sora's fault! Mimi would very much have liked to go over and hit that smug little redhead right across the face.

Kari must have been picking up on the tension when she'd picked an empty champagne bottle up off the floor. She stared at it reminiscently for a moment before addressing the rest of the guests.

"Do you remember when we were teenagers, and we used to…"

"Save the world?" Joe queried across her.

Kari smiled wryly. "Not what I was going to say, Joe. But astonishingly, yes, I do remember that."

"What were you going to say then?" asked Davis, ready as ever to hang on her every word.

"I was going to say, do you remember when we were teenagers, and we used to have those parties? And we'd play -" She gave the champagne bottle a little shake. "Spin the bottle?"

Mimi remembered. They would always organise one of their parties for her when she was in town. They were typical teenage events, she supposed. Junk food and soda and movies and silly games like spin the bottle. As they got older, occasionally someone - Matt, for the most part - would even commandeer some alcohol, and they would spike their own punch. It wasn't allowed to be fun if they weren't tipsy. And the tipsier they were, the more fun they could have. The tipsier they were, the wilder and raunchier the games would be. The first time Sora took her hands to Tai was in a game like this…

"Anyway," continued Kari. "Does anyone else want to revisit our youth? Give this old bottle one last spin?"

Most of the group just looked at her for a long moment. This was her engagement party, and she wanted to run the risk of kissing someone else? But Kari had a mischievous look in her eyes that she'd never had as a child.

"Come on, guys! We're not that grown up!"

"But Kari," Ken began hesitantly, wrapping his arm protectively around Yolei. "Most of us are in relationships..."

Yolei elbowed him in the stomach. "Ken, you are such a spoilsport. That's what makes it fun!"

And so the game had begun. It was amusing to Mimi to see how easily they slipped back into the habits of their youth. Sitting in a circle, the bottle lying on its side on the coffee table. Mimi watched the beginnings of the game with a detached air. She was getting just the tiniest bit bored. She'd rather be with Matt. It was as if her world had shrunk to just the two of them, and no matter who she was with, she would rather be with Matt.

She was half watching the game and half remembering the last time she had been with Matt when Tai had reached out to take the bottle. With a flick of his wrist, the bottle span on its axis. Around and around it went, until Mimi was mildly shocked to see the mouth of the bottle pointed at her. She turned to look at Tai, who was approaching. He winked as he leaned in. it was habit more than anything else that made her tilt her head upwards.

Matt hadn't been paying much attention to the game either, prior to Tai's spin. He'd been thinking how beautiful Mimi looked. How smooth and flawless her skin was. How full and luscious her lips were. How shiny and buoyant her hair was. Less innocently, he'd been thinking about how her blue halter-neck top displayed her creamy cleavage. And how when she bent over, her low-slung black pants flashed her lacy red thong. God, how he wanted to touch her. Feel her lips on his body. Drink in her very essence. How could he sit here next to Sora?

But the moment Tai's lips touched Mimi's, he snapped out of his reverie. Letting out an angry strangled cry, he lunged forward like a coiled snake striking at its prey. Crashing hard into the table, he sent plates and glasses skittering noisily. As he looked up, he was confronted with ten stunned expressions. And one Mimi, who was gritting her teeth and mouthing, "Are. You. INSANE?"

Cursing mentally, Matt gave a weak apologetic smile and grabbed the nearest empty bowl he could see. Displaying it, he made his excuses.

"Ha-ha… no dip left, see? You know how I get when there's no dip for my chips…"

Mimi, ever the actress, recovered quickly. While everybody else still looked dazed, she flashed them her most charming grin. Turning to face Matt, she used her most falsely sweet voice. Though she was keeping the quake of anger out of her tone, her hands were balled into white-knuckled fists and Matt knew he was going to be in so much trouble.

"Well, Matt, if you wanted more dip you should have just said something. No need for such a fuss. Just follow me into the kitchen and we'll get you a top up."

As soon as they'd entered the solitude of Mimi's kitchen, she'd turned to him. Fiery anger lit up her eyes.

"What was that?" she hissed, her voice shaking dangerously. She was only whispering, but every word made Matt cringe in fear. "Are you completely crazy? Don't you think people might notice you jumping over my coffee table and down Tai's throat?"

Matt had the grace to hang his head in shame. Mimi ripped open the fridge door and foraged furiously. Finding the dip, she slammed the door shut and began to spoon it roughly into its ceramic bowl. Thrusting it at Matt, she continued to chew him out.

"FIRST, it was only a kiss. Less than that! It was a kiss in a teenager's game. It meant nothing. SECOND, don't you see how something like that could give us away? And over something so insignificant! We have so much to lose, Matt, how could you be so frivolous? So uncontrolled?"

She glared at Matt expectantly.

"I'm sorry, Mi." He replied softly, giving her his most apologetic face. "I'm a jealous man. I just care about you so much, I couldn't stop myself. I didn't even realise I was doing anything until I'd done it."

This mollified her slightly, and her tone was gentler when she spoke again.

"Matt, we are having an affair. Affairs are secret, subversive and sneaky. The general public is not supposed to know. I can't lose you, especially not over something like this."

Matt nodded. Kissing Mimi softly on the lips, they both walked back out to the group and rejoined the game.

Matt had thought that the incident had been completely forgotten. Of course, he'd been wrong. He was sitting in the driver's seat on the ride home, and Sora in the passenger seat next to him was looking like she had something weighing on her mind. Inevitably, she soon spoke up. Sora didn't keep quiet very well.

"What's between you and Mimi?" she asked.

Matt blinked twice. But, to his credit, he showed not even a little hesitation. "We're trying for friendship."

Sora digested this for a moment. When she spoke again, her suspicious tone was lightly veiled as curious banter. Matt could see right through it, though he kept up the pretence of innocent conversation.

"There always seems to be a kind of tension between the two of you."

Yes. Of the sexual variety. Matt suppressed a laugh as he pretended to think it over.

"Well… we do have a lot of bad blood between us. It can't all be water under the bridge, Sora."

Sora seemed placated by this, at least for the time being. But Matt couldn't help wondering how much she knew. And couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something big going on, and Sora was behind it all.

Okay. I know it seems like a filler chapter. But I felt like I was making Matt and Mimi's affair all roses, and I thought I should make a chapter focussing on the downside.

Emma's useless facts about nothing in particular

A one kilogram packet of sugar will have about five million grains of sugar.